http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/Ashgabat/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , Turkmenistan , Ashgabat en-us Mon, 28 Dec 2009 15:53:11 +0000 Mon, 28 Dec 2009 15:53:11 +0000 Boarder crossing was smooth. We walked across the no mans land an abandoned cotton field from Uzbekistan to Turkmenistan. Even as an18yr old soldier with WWII issued AK47 stared at us full of curiosity immigration and customs were relaxed. But I suspect without a tour group getting visa would be difficult especially given Turkmenistan governments extreme xenophobia.Momentarily after the cro http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/Ashgabat/blog-445549.html Having left Esfahan behind visiting mosques wonderful bridges straddling a river with no water and having eaten some traditional Iranian food apart from the ever present kebabs we headed south to Shiraz of grape fame isnrsquot it odd that they are a nation of teetotallers. Although we were spending two nights there we only had one full day to explore and half of that was spent at the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/Ashgabat/blog-410464.html Underused but stately buildings older soviet era apartment blocks Ladas with shiny 'racing' tire rims cafes that don't serve beer Ashgabat is different http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/Ashgabat/blog-332629.html I am a bit behind with this journal as Turkmenistan was pretty tight with internet access. I couldn't get phone access as well. After Bukhara we went to Khiva wandered around more amazing buildings and bazaars. From there we travelled across the border into Turkmenistan. The Border towns had not seen many tourists so we had a lot of attention as we were changing money and shopping in the bazaar. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/Ashgabat/blog-330748.html Straight to Ashgabat the capital and probably the strangest place on earth. Some interesting facts Ashgabat has more hotel rooms that the average number of tourists for the whole country ANUALLY. Petrol costs less than 4p a gallon. There are 17 goldplated statues or former president and local madman Niazov Turkmenbashi in town. There are no taxis in Ashgabat you just flag down a car going http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/Ashgabat/blog-297321.html I need to figure out how to book hotel in Ashgabat Turkmenistan short of using the telephone. I can not find any internet site...ie. Kayak Orbitz Travelocity etc. that will do it. thanks. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/Ashgabat/blog-271830.html After the hellish border crossing experience we drove almost all day then finally getting to our bush camp near the Kow Ata underground thermal pools. i noticed there are many checkpoints everywhere we got stopped so many times I lost count when we stopped at a market to shop for dinner I was surprised to find out there are pork sashylik here and our guide Ata said they are not really strict h http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/Ashgabat/blog-152579.html We spend the entire day in and around the City of Love doing its sights smells and sounds. Our guide for the day is Gholuya an old Russian woman from Ashgabat. We start with a tour to the newly constructed gigantic Azadi mosque which is more or less a copy of the Haga Sofia in Istanbul. Unfortunately it is not that popular with the locals since the construction work was marred by some accident http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/Ashgabat/blog-23209.html